Among the Stars
by ManOfManyTales
Summary: [AU Fic] A girl joins the legendary Fairy Tail guild. Her life opens up new experiences and adventures she never thought possible. All the while, she is running from her past, which is determined to reclaim her. But her new friends are more than willing to protect her...especially the pink-haired man she's inexplicably drawn to. NaLu. Please REVIEW!
1. The Mysterious Girl

**This time, I'm much more prepared. As I had to sadly announce, I had to discontinue two of my previous stories because of technical difficulties. This time, I'm not gonna let that happen. I have a new flash drive and a duplicate saved on my computer.**

 **You know, I've always wanted to do a space opera story. I hope you like it. If you don't know what a space opera is...google it. I can't really put it into words.  
**

 **I am a review addict, so please keep the reviews coming; they make great motivation to update faster.**

 **Disclaimer: I just want to state that** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **and its characters are all property of Hiro Mashima. I don't own nor do I profit off of them. I do however own the plot…but I do not profit off of that.**

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 **PS Please try to bear with me. This first chapter has a lot, and I mean A LOT, of world building. But, it's an AU fic so it needs that.**

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 _ **Among the Stars**_

 **The Mysterious Girl**

Space. Ever since man has gazed up at the stars, they have dreamed of traversing them. And for years, man has made progress in traveling further and further.

Many millennia later, they have achieved their wish. In the very distant future, man has reached the furthest reaches of space. Along the way, they discovered new galaxies, new planets, and even new species out there. Some more humanoid, and some far less human-like. In their initial discovery, man had been frightened and apprehensive at the discovery of alien life. But, over the centuries, they came to accept the idea of other life among the stars. Actually, as the millennia passed, man ventured further and further away, leaving the earth nothing but a blip on the map. Soon, they were interspersed all throughout a universe teeming with life.

As stated earlier, this particular tale takes place several generations after mankind's first venture into the stars. But enough with the ancient history, let's get up to speed on current events:

First up, this story focuses on one galaxy. The universe is infinite, and much too big for a story to take place. This tale takes place in one part of the universe, known as the Fiore galaxy.

Moving on to politics. The galaxy's government is a democratic one. The galaxy is divided into sectors. Each sector has a representative sit on a council that works together to run the government. Just below the government is a Senate. Within the Senate, each planet is individually represented (a few centuries back, this was changed from each race being represented; planets being represented was much more manageable). The Senate would bring the concerns of their planets before the council as well as partake in the forming and passing of laws. This system has worked well for the universe, and the united government body is called the Unified Fiore Alliance (UFA).

But, sadly, this is not a time of peace. The galaxy is at war. The UFA has been at war for some time now. And this war is being fought on two fronts, against two very different opponents.

The first and most pressing threat is the Balam Alliance. You see, across the Fiore Galaxy there are various guilds. People all throughout the cosmos will post jobs to guilds with the promise of payment upon the job's completion. Guilds will take any job; from something as simple to helping the fisherman of planet Hargeon, to something as complex and dangerous as hunting collecting the bounty on wanted criminals. If you worked in a guild, you were (for serious lack of a better word) a mercenary.

That being said, guilds don't just form. There was extensive work put into forming and legalizing a guild. Before seeking legalization in the eyes of the UFA, guilds had to meet certain criteria—a few parameters of which were you needed a certain number of members (as of the last debate, the minimum number was six), you had to have an established base where you could meet regularly (anything from a planetside location, to a space station, to a cruiser would be fair game), and you would have to agree to accept only UFA approved jobs (if the job wasn't formally received through the UFA, and/or did not have the UFA stamp of approval, a guild could be disbanded for accepting the job).

All of that information brings us to rogue guilds. Rogue guilds were (obviously) formed without the approval of the UFA and thus operated illegally. They would receive only non-approved jobs. A majority of these jobs (and the main reasons why they weren't approved by the UFA) were heists, sabotage, poaching, and (probably the most popular) hits and assassinations.

Which brings us back to the Balam Alliance. Despite the UFA's best efforts, the galaxy is filled with illegal guilds. In a recent and very shocking turn of events, all of these guilds operate under and answer to the Balam Alliance; the united front of three rogue guilds called Oracion Seis, Tartaros, and Grimoire Heart. The goal of the Balam Alliance was to bring down the UFA and spread chaos and anarchy throughout the stars.

While the UFA had data on the Balam Alliance and head steadily been combating them for some time, they lacked sufficient information on their second opponent in this war. The mysterious Alvarez Empire. Some time ago, the Alvarez Empire had appeared out of the blue on the outermost edge of the Fiore galaxy. The empire had used its massive armada to lay waste to patrolling UFA fleets and even conquer the edge planets (pretty self-explanatory; planets located on the edge of the galaxy), securing a foothold to fight against the UFA. The UFA valiantly fought back, but the Alvarez Empire had gained a foothold in the Fiore Galaxy; several edge planets surrendered to or even defected to the empire, allowing its foothold in the galaxy to grow. It became increasingly clear the empire wished to take down the UFA, conquer the Fiore galaxy, and establish a new order with the empire's ruling power as the sole monarch.

Recently, the Alvarez Empire had taken further steps in securing a foothold in the Fiore Galaxy. The emperor had proposed an alliance with the king of one of the edge planets. The alliance would be solidified by the emperor's marriage to the king's daughter.

Only days before the wedding, the princess had disappeared.

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That's all just backstory however. This story truly begins in another part of the galaxy. Planet Hargeon was renowned as a bustling trade center for the entire galaxy. The planet stood like a brilliant royal blue pearl among the infinity of space. Circling around the planet was a ring. Rings around planets are normal, yes, but this one wasn't. Planetary rings are usually made by debris—asteroids, comets, etc—pulled into and sustained by a planet's gravitational field. This ring was manmade (well, more than men made it, so let's say artificial instead) and surrounded the planet in one connected segment. The ring stood out as a dull metallic gray against Hargeon's brilliant glowing blue.

From far away, this ring looked like a thin line wrapping around the planet. But, getting closer, the ring was actually massive, easily fifty or sixty times larger than the largest cruisers. This was Hargeon's docking station; all business was conducted here. Merchants would dock at the station, set up shops, and sell their wares. Cruisers on long treks across the stars could stop for refueling. Fisherman from around the galaxy would also stop at the station to obtain permits that would allow them to land planetside and fish (Hargeon was also known for having some of the best species of fish for consumption across the galaxy). This station was called the Hargeon Ring (the UFA named it. It's unoriginal and uncreative, but it's self-explanatory).

Located in the southeast sector of the Hargeon Ring was a cantina where weary travelers could rest for a bit, have a drink or a bite to eat, and be on their way. On this particular day, the cantina was busier than usual. Crowded and rowdy, the dim lighting failed to provide a calm, relaxing ambiance like it normally did.

A large, fat alien creature resembling a blue slug carried a tray with a long tentacle that protruded from one of its fat rolls. On the tray was a couple of tumblers filled with bright teal liquid. The sluglike being set the tray down on a table tucked in a corner, and the tentacle slid back into the crevice of its corpuscle. The creature uttered out a series of growls and gurgles which, for convenience, shall be translated.

" _Here are your drinks. Enjoy."_

The man sitting at the table was a blue-haired male in his late twenties. He was wrapped in a purple cloak. He slid his hand out of his cloak, holding out a few square pieces of chrome plated metal engraved with black etchings across both sides. This was jewel, the currency of the Fiore galaxy. Another tentacle slid out from a different fat roll and swiped the jewel before the creature slithered back behind the bar at the front of the cantina.

"Now where were we?" The cloaked blue-haired man turned to his guest; it was a beautiful green-skinned humanoid woman.

The woman giggled, taking the tumblr and sipping the beverage. "You were just telling me how you thought I could join the legendary Fairy Tail."

A quick explanation is in order. Of the many guilds across the galaxy, none is more famous (or infamous depending on whom you ask) than Fairy Tail. It was originally founded by Mavis Vermillion, a species known as a fairy from the planet Tenrou.

"Fairy Tail huh?" A new voice asked, causing the man and woman to look up. "You don't say."

The voice belonged to a young man who looked somewhere between his late teens and early twenties. He was average height for a man his age. His attire consisted of a dark navy blue long sleeve shirt. The shirt's collar was propped up and the top three buttons were all undone, showing a glimpse of defined pectoral muscles. The young man also wore dark beige pants, black boots, and a white scarf tied loosely around his neck.

He had a rather handsome face with lightly tanned skin and dark hazel eyes; if you looked closely, you could see the male's pupils were actually vertical slits…like something serpentine. He wore a huge grin that showed off slightly elongated canines. His most distinguishing feature, however, was the spiky pink tresses locks of hair on his head.

"Yeah." The blue-haired man smirked. "What's it to you?"

The pink-haired humanoid pulled up a chair and sat down at the booth. "I've heard so much about the Fairy Tail guild." He beamed. "Who are you?"

The other man reached out of his cloak, grabbed his drink and took a swig. "Why I'm the legendary Salamander of course." He glanced back at his female companion. "Now beat it kid, can't you see I'm busy?"

"That's interesting." The pink-haired man responded. He unbuttoned his shirt a little further down and pulled it open. He slid it off his shoulder. There, for the all the world to see, was a red tattoo of the Fairy Tail symbol on his left shoulder. "Because I've never seen you before."

Both the green-skinned girl and cloaked man looked at the pink-haired kid with wide eyes. The man started to sweat.

"And Salamander you say?" The pinkette continued to press. "That's strange, because last time I checked…" he chuckled some, his grin turned into a smirk, "that's me!"

The cloaked man felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. "Well uh…" he trailed off, "you see… I uh…" he continued to stammer. Finally, he responded with action rather than words. The kicked up the table, sending the drinks flying; he shot up out of his seat and barreled through the crowd out of the cantina, and into the massive corridor of the Hargeon Ring.

"NO YOU DON'T!" A high-pitched voice squeaked as a blue cat fell through the air and landed on the cloak man, grabbing his face. The blue-haired man struggled and flailed as the cat wouldn't let go. The pink-haired man recovered, set the table back up, got to his feet, and ran out of the cantina, tossing a tip to the bartender for the mess. He ran out to see the cat holding tightly to the cloaked man's face.

"Hey Happy." The pinkette greeted. "Thanks for the help pal."

"Aye Natsu." The cat, Happy, returned the greeting.

"Where are Gray and Erza?" Natsu, the pink-haired humanoid, asked as he looked around.

"Gray should be here shortly." Happy spoke over the man's muffled shouts. "He just had to get a permit for the ship. Erza's getting the warrant and notifying UFA officials as we speak."

"Thinking ahead." Natsu chuckled.

The conversation was cut short when the man finally grabbed Happy, yanked him off his face, and threw him to the ground.

"Happy!" Natsu gasped, running to his downed feline friend.

"I'm fine." Happy stumbled as he got to his feet. "We've both been through worse."

Natsu nodded and smiled, glad to see his friend was alright. Meanwhile, the fake salamander was busy bolting through the massive arcing corridor of the Hargeon Ring; ducking and shoving through groups of beings to get away from his pursuers.

Natsu helped Happy to his feet. "Think we can catch him?" He asked.

"Aye!" Happy squealed. Suddenly, two white wings popped out of his back. Happy wasn't an ordinary cat…if the fact he talked wasn't indication enough of this. He was an Exceed from the planet Extalia. Happy flapped his wings, hovering into the air and behind Natsu. He grabbed his friend's shirt and lifted him up, which despite their massive difference in size was easy for the little blue feline. With Natsu in his grip, Happy took off, flying for the blue-haired cloaked man they were chasing.

As they flew after their target, a new player joined into the fray. He looked about Natsu's age and height. He wore a long black overcoat which showed off his broad frame; the long collar was propped up around his neck. He shad silver plates on his shoulders. The man's coat was open, revealing he wore nothing underneath; displaying his hard toned body complete with defined pectorals and six pack abs. He also wore baggy green pants and black boots. His face wore a hardened expression underneath shaggy black hair, complete with icy dark blue eyes.

Natsu and Happy watched as the dark-haired man pulled his coat open and pulled a pistol-sized blaster off his belt. He came to a halt, aiming his weapon at the running man. The dark-haired young man pulled the trigger. A purple bolt of lightning jolted out of the weapon. It hit the cloaked man in the back; his body shook and twitched before he collapsed to the ground.

The surrounding crowd bolted out of the corridor, leaving the four completely alone in a now abandoned corridor. Happy drifted lower to the ground, setting Natsu on his feet.

"WHAT THE HELL GRAY!?" Natsu yelled at the dark-haired man. "YOU TRYING TO STEAL MY THUNDER!?"

The dark-haired man, Gray Fullbuster, turned to his companion. After holstering his gun, he turned to the pinkette. His calm demeanor dropped, showing the same over-the-top anger as Natsu. "WELL IF YOU TOOK THE JOB SERIOUSLY AND WEREN'T SO BUSY DICKING AROUND, WE WOULDN'T NEED TO HAVE THIS ARGUMENT RIGHT NOW YOU PYRO!"

The two suddenly got close, pressing their forehead together and getting in each other's faces. "YOU WANNA GO ICE-FOR-BRAINS!?" Natsu shouted.

"ANYTIME, ANYWHERE!"

"You two aren't fighting are you?" Another voice called.

Natsu and Gray froze and turned to the new voice. It belonged to a woman. She stood slightly taller than Natsu or Gray, but only slightly. She was in a black chestplate with gold highlights on the side and just under the bust…which was rather generous on this woman. Her upper arms were bare, but her forearms were clad in golden gauntlets. Her curvaceous form was also clad in a short black metal skirt (or tasset) and her long legs were clad in tight, black high heeled boots that reached all the way up to her thigh.

Slung around each of her shoulders was a leather strap that was tied to a long rifle; both of which formed and X behind her back. Around her alluring hips was a black belt, with a holster filled with a pistol resting on each hip. The bladeless hilt of a sword also hung at each of her his below the holsters of her pistols. Wrapped around her left thigh was a holster with a dagger in it.

She wore a stern expression on her face, half of which was obscured by long, vibrant hair which ran her back in long tresses. Because half of her face was covered, only one of her brown eyes was visible.

Natsu and Gray immediately stopped what they were doing, expressions of sheer horror on their faces. They stopped their pointless argument, quickly wrapped their arms each others' shoulders and put on huge, fake smiles.

"Of course not Erza!" They chuckled nervously. "Look, see? We're getting along!"

The fourth member of the group, Erza Scarlet, nodded. She looked past Natsu and Gray to the unconscious man laying a few feet away from them. Her already serious expression dropped into a frown as she glared at the two of them.

"And what is this!?" She asked. "You didn't seriously kill the target did you!?"

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Both Natsu and Gray screamed, terrified of Erza's anger.

"I didn't do it!" Natsu raised his finger accusingly at Gray. "Gray's the one who shot him!"

"It's not my fault!" Gray countered. "I swear, my gun was on stun!" He pulled his pistol back out. "At least I think I did!"

"Wha!?" Happy shouted, joining the shouting. "You mean you didn't even make sure your gun was on the right setting?"

"Don't you start on me you stupid cat!"

Erza held up her hand, silencing everyone. She approached the downed man. He let out a weak groan in pun.

"He's alive." She announced casually. Natsu, Happy, and Gray all let out a sigh of relief. "And he's coming to." Erza went on. "That will make this easier."

Erza knelt to the ground, digging her knee into his back. She reached behind her and pulled out a small, thin metal rod and chain. Erza grabbed the man's arms and forcefully pulled them behind her back. She then held the chain out between his wrists and twisted one of the links. A blue beam of pure energy shot out of the ends of the chain, arced around his wrist and connected at the other end, cuffing him.

As the man became more and more awake, he began to struggle more. Erza shoved her knee into his back, making him groan in pain. She held up the metal rod. A blue, holographic screen slid out of the rod. On the screen, the blue-haired man's faces and information showed up.

"Bora of the Titan Nose guild." She announced. "You are hereby under arrest for the crimes of larceny, identity theft," Natsu glared at that, as he was one whose identity was being stolen, "kidnapping, and trafficking." She got off Bora's back and pulled him to his feet. "A security droid will be along shortly to take you into custody until the UFA police arrive to collect you."

On cue, a robot arrived on the scene. It was…awkwardly shaped to say the least. It's head was a large oval computer monitor with a green line going across its screen; the line moved and shook like a Richter scale or a heart monitor every time it spoke in its monotone voice. Its head was supported on a long, thin rod that connected to a large wheel at the bottom. The security droid took Bora from Erza and led him off into custody.

Erza looked at the rod with the holo-screen again. She swiped her finger across it, the screen changed from Bora's profile to new information. After a while, she shut the screen off and put the deactivated rod back onto her person. "And the jewel has just been transferred into our accounts."

Hearing this, Natsu pumped his fist into the air. "Another job completed by Fairy Tail!"

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed, jumping up into the air.

"Excuse me?" A girl's voice called. "Did you just say you were from Fairy Tail?"

The voice belonged to a young woman. She had beautiful skin, which she apparently liked to show off, judging by her rather…skimpy is the best word to use…attire. She wore a white, sleeveless crop top with gold trim, with a thick blue stripe going down the middle. Around her shoulders was a sleeveless vest in the same shade of blue as her top, and it also had an identical gold trim. She wore blue detached sleeves around her forearms which belled out around her wrists. Below her exposed midriff was a short navy skirt and a white belt with a whip holstered at her side. Her ensemble was completed by the black thigh high stockings and brown boots she wore.

Her pale face was rather beautiful. Beneath her long, beautiful blonde hair was a set of light brown, almost amber eyes.

Natsu was the first to speak up. "Yeah. As a matter of fact," he gestured to his companions, "we're actually Fairy Tail's strongest team!" He boasted proudly.

The blonde's eyes lit up hearing that. "That's so amazing!" She exclaimed happily. "I've always wanted to join a guild." She said. "And Fairy Tail has always been my top choice!"

"Well, the more the merrier!" Natsu grinned. "How about you come back with us?" He offered.

"Can I?" The blonde asked. She looked past Natsu to his two companions. "Really?" She asked, looking at Gray and Erza.

Erza nodded, her face forming a small smile. "I don't see why not. Like Natsu said, the more the merrier."  
Gray shrugged, putting his hands behind his head. "I don't mind. There's enough room for you on the ship."

"Aye!" Happy cheered his response.

"Great, it's settled." Natsu held out his hand. "Welcome to Fairy Tail. I'm Natsu Dragneel." He introduced. "This is my best friend Happy." He pointed to the alien cat. "That's Erza, and exhibitionist over there is Gray."

"What did you call me?" Gray asked.

"It's nice to meet you all." The blonde smiled politely. "My name is Lucy. Lucy He…" she stopped, cutting herself off. "Ashley. My name is Lucy Ashley."

"Welcome aboard Lucy." Natsu smiled.

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At another point in the galaxy, on another planet, a man sat in a darkened room behind a desk. The lights were dimmed, and the room was much too dark to see any distinguishing features. In fact, the only reason one could discern the figure was a man at all was because of his voice.

The man pushed down on his desk, and the top slid away revealing a hidden computer console underneath. His hands keyed in several commands, causing a microphone and a speaker to pop out in front of the console.

" _Good evening."_ A suave, young-sounding, yet undeniably powerful voice greeted from the other side of the speaker.

"Good evening your majesty." The man spoke into the microphone.

" _Please spare me the formalities."_ The voice replied charismatically. _"After all, we are both monarchs."_ He pointed out. _"And I am marrying your lovely daughter."_

The shadow froze, remaining silent for a moment. Mustering up the courage, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Actually, it is due to your impending nuptials that I am calling you."

" _Oh? Is something wrong? Would you like me to formally court your daughter? Let her get to know me?"_

"Actually…" he trailed off.

When he didn't continue, the voice responded. _"…What?"_

"It uh…" he let out a nervous chuckle. "It seems as though my daughter has run away."

" _What?"_ The voice on the other end of the speaker asked again, sounding far less pleasant this time.

"She's gone." He said a little more boldly. "I summoned her to speak with me, and she didn't respond. I sent search parties out all over and no one has found her. " He gulped. "It appears as though she's left the system."

" _You are the king of an entire planet and its moon."_ The other voice was slowly becoming angrier. _"How is it that one girl managed to run away without your knowing?"_

"I'm working on that." He said. "I'm sure she convinced the servants to help her. When I find out who's responsible, they will be severely punished."

" _That can wait!"_ The speak burst out. _"Our top priority should be finding my intended and bringing her back. Remember, our alliance will not be official until she and I are wed."_

"I know."The man in the shadows nodded, becoming more scared and intimidated at the anger the person he was talking to was exhibiting. "And I'm already on it." He explained. "I've been trying to get into contact with bounty hunters, and mercenaries."

" _No!"_ The second voice exclaimed. _"On second thought, I shall retrieve her."_ It suggested. _"Bounty hunters are too much trouble. Mercenaries are too reckless."_ The man on the speaker spat.

" _However, I have a man that I trust dearly. I shall dispatch him to bring my bride back."_

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 **Well first chapter. In all honestly, I actually had NO INTENTION of just re-creating the first episode of** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **(essentially), it just came out like that.**

 **So what do you guys think? Remember, YOU HAVE TO REVIEW! If I get a positive enough response back, I'll continue this story!**


	2. The General

**Well, I was hoping to get more reviews, but this story did get the positive response I was looking for, judging by all the follows and favorites I got. So yay! You get more story!**

 **I am a REVIEW ADDCIT, so please keep the reviews coming; they make great motivation to update faster.**

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 **NOTE: By the way, since this is a space story and intergalactic travel is gonna be a huge part of the story…I'm not giving the dragon-slayers motion sickness. Please don't hate me!**

 **Disclaimer: I just want to state that** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **and its characters are all property of Hiro Mashima. I don't own nor do I profit off of them. I do however own the plot…but I do not profit off of that.**

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 _ **Among the Stars**_

 **The General**

Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, and Lucy all boarded a transportation pod (which is similar in many ways to an elevator). The doors slid close and the pod traveled sideways on its track through the Hargeon Ring, taking its travelers to the docking bay.

"So is it really that difficult being in a guild?" Lucy asked as the pod whizzed along the station silently.

"I don't find it that difficult." Natsu shrugged.

Gray nodded. "Those stories you probably heard about guilds were most likely exaggerated." He explained. "The guild gets job requests. You accept a job. You complete the job. You get paid."

Erza stepped into the conversation. "On top of that, all missions are ranked." She said. "There's regular quests, which should always be taken at your discretion. Then, there's S-class quests which are off limits to most guild members and only available to S-class guild members. Once a year, the guild holds S-class exams to determine whether or not guild members are deemed worthy of being promoted. Above that, there's SS-Class, which are even above my level.

Lucy nodded. "I see."

"So what's your story?" Happy asked. "Why do you want to join a guild?"

"My Story?" The light in Lucy's eyes faded as she looked down, an unreadable expression on her face.

Erza caught this and smiled warmly. "Don't worry," she placed her gauntleted hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. Everyone in Fairy Tail has demons and scars. You're not alone."

Lucy looked up at the redhead, and nodded, the faint ghost of a smile breaking out on her lips. The pod came to a halt and the doors opened. The party stepped out of the lift and into the docking bay.

"Well, there she is." Gray grinned proudly, gesturing to the ship below them. "The Ice Devil."

Gray's ship, the Ice Devil, was much larger than a regular, individual craft but it was smaller than a cruiser or a frigate. The best word to describe it would be "sleek." It was a bright glimmering silver color. The ship was shaped like an elongated cylinder; the barrel-shaped cockpit was perched on top of the ship's body and ended in a sharp point. On either side of the ship, two long wings were folded up against the ship's body.

"Wow." Lucy breathed out in awe. "It's so big."

"That's because popsicle here is compensating for something." Natsu chuckled.

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU PINK-HEADED FREAK!?" Gray snarled at his pink-haired companion.

"YOU HEARD ME TINY DICK!" Natsu shouted back, continuing to mock him.

"SETTLE DOWN YOU TWO!" Erza screamed at them both.

"Yes ma'am!" Natsu and Gray cowered.

Watching the scene going on Erza turned to Happy. "Is this common?"

"Aye." Happy nodded and sighed.

"Now," Erza regained her composure, "if everything is in order, we can head back. The trip to Magnolia is short, but I'm exhausted and I want to go home."

Everyone nodded and stepped onto a lift next to the stairway. The lift slowly descended down toward the Ice Devil. Everyone got off the lift and it climbed back up to the top floor. Gray reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a remote and pressed a button. There was a low _hiss_ and a burst of steam as a ramp opened down from the bottom of the ship, touching down at the feet of the party.

"Go ahead and board." Gray instructed, putting the remote away and pulling out a black tablet. Hey touched the screen in a couple different areas, and a yellow screen lit up. "I need to find a service bot to validate real quick."

Erza and Happy nodded, walking up the ramp. Natsu turned to the blonde. "Come on Lucy," he held out his hand, "I'll show around the ship."

Lucy smiled and accepted Natsu's had, which she noted felt unusually warm. Natsu walked up the ramp, pulling Lucy behind him. The ramp led into a large circular room. Tucked off on one end was a round table with booth seating. In the middle of the room was a large hologram projector, currently displaying a 3-D map of the Fiore galaxy; the map was mostly gray except for Hargeon, which was indicated in blue. In various ends of the room were four tunnels that led off to four different areas of the ship.

"This is the hold." Natsu explained. "During long trips, we put the ship on autopilot and kill time here." He pointed off to one an exit with a staircase leading upwards. "That leads to the cockpit." He then pointed to the exit directly across from it with a stairway leading down. "That leads to the internal workings of the ship, strictly for maintenance purposes only." He pointed to the other two corridors. "Those lead to the storage compartment and the sleeping quarters; both of which are pretty self-explanatory."

Lucy nodded silently, taking in all the information. As they talked, Gray walked into the hold. "Finished with the tour flame brain?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Just about." Natsu grinned.

"Good." He nodded. "Then both of you get to the cockpit and strap yourselves in." He instructed.

Natsu and Lucy fell into single file and climbed up the stairway after Gray into the cockpit. It was a small, tight room. In the middle were six seats divided into two rows of three. Wrapped around the first two was a massive computer console shaped like a half circle; on the section of computer in front of the left seat was a control yoke indicating it as the pilot's chair. Up above the console was a massive, rectangular-shaped window.

When Lucy got up there, Erza was strapped into the front right hand seat, the co-pilot's chair. Gray was strapping himself into the pilot's chair and Natsu had just taken the seat directly behind him. Happy was sitting in the chair across from Natsu. Lucy took the seat behind Happy, pulling the safety restraints from across the street and buckling them together.

"There you are Gray." Erza said, not looking up as she pressed various flashing buttons on the console. "I've finished completing a diagnostic; all systems are fully functional, although we are a little low on fuel."

"Is there enough to get us to Magnolia?" Gray began keying in commands to the console as well.

Erza nodded. "We should be more than okay."

"Good." Gray said. "Then we'll refuel once we get back home." He turned back to their new friend. "Don't worry." He instructed. "The trip to Magnolia is short; fifteen, twenty minutes at most. And we don't even have to warp."

Lucy nodded. A blue, circular light began flashing in the center of the terminal.

"Gray, you have an incoming transmission." Happy noted, pointing to the flashing light.

"I can see that." Gray pushed down on the flashing light. It stopped flashing as a mechanical voice poured in through the communication system.

"Thank you for your visit to Hargeon system." A feminine voice chimed. "Your ship is now cleared for takeoff. We hope that you visit again."

Suddenly, the ship jolted to life. Lucy couldn't help but grip the arms of her seat as the Ice Devil vibrated to life.

"Landing gear retracted." Erza updated. "Liftoff initiated."

Gray placed one hand on the yoke slowly pulled it backwards. His ship slowly backed out of docking back window and into the openness of space. Gray flipped a switch on the console and the Ice Devil's wings slowly unfolded and extended outward.

With his ship ready to travel, Gray tilted the control yoke to the side. The Ice Devil drifted as it spun around, turning away from the station.

"Alright!" Natsu cheered. "Next stop; Magnolia and Fairy Tail!"

Gray pushed the control yoke forward, and the ship bolted through the stars.

* * *

On the edge of the Magnolia galaxy, a massive fleet of ships gathered; everything ranging from individual fighter craft to large cruisers. All of them converged on this one point. Standing out in the middle of this convergence was a massive craft. It was easily twice the size of the largest space station…

…But this was no space station. Don't be fooled by its gargantuan size, this thing is actually a large cruiser. The massive vessel was painted a brilliant golden color. Its massive rectangular base connected to a large tunnel which ran a long distance all the way to the cone-shaped front of the ship. Two long, wide wings stretched out in an incredibly long span.

The entire ship's structure was modeled after and sculpted to resemble a dragon. At the ship's rear, the long engine was sculpted into a dragon's tail. The rectangular body was modeled into a dragon's body with its limbs folded in at its side. The wings were modeled to resemble dragon's wings. Lastly, the cone-shaped head was sculpted into the shape of a dragon's head. The head wore the vicious expression a dragon gnashing its teeth.

Behold the massive fleet of the Alvarez Empire. And this hulking, gold behemoth is its flagship, the Dragonoid. Located on top of the Dragonoid's head was a transparent dome which housed the command center of the massive battleship.

The command center was circular shaped like an arena. It raised five levels from bottom to top. Each level was lined all the way around with computer terminals and engineers and officers were sitting at each one, operating the enormous ship.

Within the command center, a platform raised high above the terminals almost to the top of the dome. The platform connected to a long, thin narrow walkway that connected to a circular platform that seemingly floated above the command center. On the other end of the walkway, located near the edge of the dome, was the entrance to a lift. The lift doors left out a hiss as they slid open.

"General on deck." An officer announced. Everyone rose from their terminals, turned to face the ramp and saluted.

A tall, imposing figure stepped out of the lift. He was very broad with wide shoulders. His body was completely covered by a long, flowing black cloak, which trailed in a long train behind him. Two, sleek black shoulder pads pointed off his shoulders ending in a sharp point. The collar of his cloak was stiff and stood upward around his neck.

His face was obscured by a sleek, black helmet. Like the Dragonoid, his ship, his helmet was modeled after a dragon—a dragon's head to be more precise. Ten horns protruded from the helmet, two on each side on the top, and three on each side under his jaw. The mouth piece was shaped to make it look like the helmet was baring its teeth. Among the black and silver, the eyes on the helmet stood out as bright shining blue orbs. The top of the helmet was adorned with swirling and curved blue marks. Behind his head, the helmet opened to reveal shining silver hair tied into a messy ponytail. As it hung down the figure's back, the hair frayed and hung wildly.

The helmeted general silently walked down the walkway and onto the circular platform, his cloak fanned out behind him and hung off the platform's edges.

The beady blue spheres of the helmet stared down at the peons below him, saluting as they stared up at him. The general spoke, the helmet distorting his voice. "As you were."

"SIR YES SIR!" The officers shouted collectively and went back to their terminals.

"General!" One of the officers at a terminal called. "You have an incoming transmission."

"On what channel?" The general's distorted voice asked.

"Delta-3 Gamm-12."

"That's a restricted channel." He mumbled to himself. "Only one person has access to that channel as a matter of fact." He looked down at the officer. "Transfer the message to me." He instructed. "And ensign," he addressed his subordinate by rank, "I will be taking this call privately."

"Yes sir." The officer nodded.

Suddenly, a black bubble slid out and wrapped around the entire platform and walkway. Now, completely isolated, the general dropped down to one knee. Above him, on the walls of the dome, two red, downward-curved lines appeared.

"My master." The general addressed.

The two red lines turned upwards which revealed the shape of a pair of eyes outlined in red. Despite it being only the image of eyes, a charismatic voice filled the entire bubble, soundproof so that no one outside could hear them.

" _General Acnologia."_ The voice returned the greeting.

"I must admit, master" he general, named Acnologia, lowered his helmet-clad head "your transmission is most unexpected. Shouldn't you be preparing for your wedding?"

" _It is because of my impending nuptials that I'm contacting you."_ The holographic eyes stared down at him. _"My princess' father has contacted me to inform me that my bride has run away."_

"That is most unsettling news." Acnologia nodded his head.

" _Indeed. I am sending you to search for her."_ Acnologia's master got straight to the point.

"My lord," Acnologia raised his head to look into his master's eyes, "forgive my insubordination, but what of our plans of conquest? And on top of that, try as I might, we cannot get an entire armada so deep into UFA space without suffering heavy losses!"

" _You are correct."_ Acnologia's master, the emperor of the Alvarez Empire, replied. _"But I will not be sending the entire fleet. But…"_ he paused, _"one cruiser is a different story. You should be able to maneuver t easily without drawing too much attention. Furthermore, the battalions of troops stationed on the Dragonoid should be more than enough support for your mission."_

" _As for our conquest,"_ he changed the subject, _"there is no harm in biding our time."_

Acnologia bowed his head again. "Yes master. I understand."

" _Remember Acnologia, my bride must be unharmed. But you may do what you like to whoever gets in your way."_

"Yes master." Acnologia accepted.

The two holographic eyes closed and vanished. The dome opened up as Acnologia rose to his feet. The general stepped on a switch on the floor. A throne-like seat slid out of the platform and Acnologia sat down on it.

"Men!" He announced with his distorted voice. "We have our orders!"

* * *

 **And now we have our antagonist. By the way, just in case I didn't explain it good enough, Acnologia helmet is meant to resemble his dragon form's head.**

 **So what do you guys think? Remember, YOU HAVE TO REVIEW!**


	3. Fairy Tail

**OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY! This chapter took me so long because of the dreaded affliction known as Writer's Black. Because this chapter introduces the Fairy Tail guild, I had to figure out who I was going to portray as alien, and who was going to remain human. A few were easy, but it actually ended up being really hard. So, I apologize again.**

 **I am a REVIEW ADDCIT, so please keep the reviews coming; they make great motivation to update faster.**

* * *

 **ANOTHER NOTE: By the way, a lot of what I know of the characters (their mannerisms, etc) come from the DUB. Nothing against subs or people who watch subs, I like them. It's just, I grew up watching dubs, so they're nostalgic for me. And also, I multi-task, so I'm never just sitting watching, so I need something I can listen to as well as watch.**

 **Anyway, as I was saying, a lot of how I portray the characters come from the dubs. For example, I don't have Gajeel's laugh or his nicknames, or characters using honorifics.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I just want to state that** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **and its characters are all property of Hiro Mashima. I don't own nor do I profit off of them. I do however own the plot…but I do not profit off of that.**

 _ **Among the Stars**_

 **Fairy Tail**

General Acnologia stood in the missing princess's room, surveying his surroundings. The room was kept neat and tidy. It was anyway. While Acnologia surveyed the room, Alvarez Empire troops were tearing the room apart, looking to see if the princess had left any clue as to what her plans were. Silently, the general turned around, leaving the soldiers to do their work.

He walked into the throne room of the castle on planet Konzern. There, the king Jude Heartfillia was talking to one of his officers.

"Do you have any ideas as to how she might have escaped, or where she could have gone?" The officer asked in a calm tone.

"I already explained I don't know where she's growing." The king growled frustrated. "As for how she escaped, I have reason to believe that the servants helped her. I've been interrogating them for some time now, but none of them are talking."

"Of course they aren't." Acnologia spoke, announcing his presence. Both the king and the soldier turned to him. "Forgive me your majesty, but I have observed some of your interrogations." The broad general bowed to the king. "Your tactics do not work." He said simply.

He stood back up, standing a good foot taller than the king. "But worry not," the helmeted general commented with his altered voice, "I shall take over the interrogation…" he paused to create a dramatic effect on his words. "And I _will_ get results!"

"But first." He said. From out of his cloak slid a burly black arm wrapped in a tight fitting sleeve. The hand was covered in a dark gray gauntlet that traveled down past the wrist, slightly covering the forearm. The fingers ended in sharp black points, making his hand look like a sharp, monstrous claw. "There is something that needs doing."

He reached up with his clawed hand, gently threading it through the king's combed back blonde hair. Jude flinched and shivered as he felt the heavy hand push down on his head. He couldn't bring himself to make the general stop. Jude would never admit it outright, but he found the taller man (if he even was a man at all) utterly terrifying.

When Acnologia finally removed his hand, he was holding a thing strand of the king's wiry blonde hair.

"W-what are you doing?" The king finally mustered up the courage to ask.

"The Fiore galaxy is quite large." His distorted voice explained. "If these peons you call servants choose to die rather than talk, we will have to resort to tracking her." He held up the strand of hair. "Tracking her would be easier with a sample of her genetic material; which, as her father, you also bear."

The general turned away, his cape swaying behind him. "I have some business to conduct on the Dragonoid." He announced. "Once I am finished, I will return to take over the interrogations."

Acnolgoia exited the palace and walked into the courtyard. Located in the skies of Konzern, high above the estate, the massive golden Dragonoid glimmered in the sunlight.

* * *

The Ice Devil continued to soar through the stars. Gray remained at the helm, piloting the ship. Natsu, Erza, and Happy had gone down to the hold to pass the time. Lucy remained in the cockpit, watching as the stars whizzed by. In the long run, her journey was only beginning, but the blonde girl was still awestruck by it all.

"There it is." Gray announced. Lucy looked out the window and her eyes widened. Quickly approaching was planet Magnolia. Against the backdrop of space, the planet shined like a bright pink gem. Gray slowed the ship's speed as he approached the planet.

Gray turned to the wall on his left. Located just above his head was a panel. Lifting his left hand, Gra keyed into the panel and a microphone slid out of the wall.

"Okay you guys." Gray spoke into the mic. "We're approaching Magnolia. I need you guys ready for re-entry."

Erza, Happy, and Natsu quickly rejoined Gray and Lucy as they got ever closer to the pink planet.

"Whoa, what's that?" Lucy asked. Suddenly, behind Magnolia, a smaller dark green colored sphere appeared, slowly spinning around the much brighter, much larger pink Magnolia.

"You don't much about Magnolia, do you?" Erza asked. To which Lucy bashfully shook her head.

"That's Extalia, my home planet!" Happy declared with a huge smile on his face as he talked about it. "Extalia also happens to be Magnolia's moon." Lucy nodded, taking in the new information.

"Strap yourselves in." Gray said quickly. "We're about to hit the atmosphere." Everyone quickly nodded, buckling their harnesses. The Ice Devil rumbled and shook slightly as it hit the planet's atmosphere, but Gray was quickly able to even her out. The ship glided gently through the pink skies of planet Magnolia. The window was assaulted by pink clouds (colored so by Magnolia's atmosphere) as the shipped dropped lower and lower toward the planet.

As the ship dropped below the cloud level, Lucy caught her first glimpse of the surface of Magnolia. It was beautiful. As far as Lucy could see, the planet was covered in the most emerald green grass she had ever seen. Dotted across the landscape were magnolia trees which were in full bloom. Directly below them was a quaint little town. Merchant booths and shops lined up next to and between the houses and apartment complexes.

"There it is!" Natsu practically squealed in his excitement.

Lucy looked to see what Natsu was talking about. Up ahead of the town was a large hill. And on top of that tall grassy hill was the Fairy Tail guild hall. The guild hall was surrounded by a massive hexagonal fence. Inside the barrier, the guild hall was a flat, one story building that was bent at a right angle. At one end of the building was a tall cylindrical tower. At the other end was a large domed building. A landing pad sat outside in front of the guildhall. Like the fence around it, the entire building complex was white.

Gray brought the Ice Devil to a hover above the domed section of the guild hall. He entered keyed a code into his console and the dome top split in two and slid down in opposite directions. The Ice Devil's wings folded back up to its sides as it slowly slid down toward into the Fairy Tail guild's garage. The ship's landing gear slowly slid out underneath the ship as it descended. The Ice Devil touched down between two other ships. Underneath the ship's hull, the landing legs slid out, setting the craft on the ground. The ship powered down as the boarding ramp opened down.

The group exited the ship and walked into the parking garage. Above them, the dome closed shut again. Gray pulled a remote out of jacket pocket and pressed a button on it which made the Ice Devil's boarding ramp ascend back into the ship and close.

The group was greeted by two people who stood waiting for them. The first was an incredibly short, incredibly old man, rising about only to Lucy's kneecaps. His wrinkled face sported a thick, white mustache. He was mostly bald with two tufts of white hair above his ears. Wrapped around his shoulders was a yellow cloak. Beneath he wore a white, long-sleeve tunic with a maroon vest buttoned up over it. He also wore blue pants and pointed brown shoes.

The other was a humanoid woman of average height. She had pale skin and long snow white hair. She wore a happy expression, and her dazzling sapphire blue eyes shined. She wore what appeared to be a tight, black leotard that showed off her curvy, hourglass figure. The front of it was zipped down, showing off an ample amount of cleavage. Beneath it was a pair of white leggings that hugged her legs along with the black knee-length boots.

"Hey Gramps, Mira." Natsu greeted the two.

"Hey Natsu." The tiny old man smiled and greeted in his gravelly voice.

"How was your mission?" The girl, Mira, greeted.

"The mission was a success." Erza said proudly as she moved past Natsu, standing in front of him and Gray. "And there was no damages this time."

Mira clapped her hands together. "Well that's good news." She peered past the group and looked at their new blonde friend. "And who is this?" She asked.

Natsu followed Mira's gaze back to the blonde who was standing in the back shyly. "Oh this is Lucy Ashley." He smiled. "We met her back in Hargeon, and she said she wanted to join the guild."

"Wonderful." Mira smiled. "The more the merrier."

Makarov walked past everyone, approaching the blonde. "Now my dear," he said, "are you sure this is what you want?" He asked her. "Guild life isn't easy. It may be one of the most challenging things you'll ever find yourself doing." He said seriously.

Lucy nodded. "I can handle it."

Makarov's expression changed, breaking out into a huge smile. "Then welcome to Fairy Tail!" He declared boisterously. "We'll introduce you to the guild and Mira can set you up with everything you'll need."

The group walked down the hallway and into the main part of the Fairy Tail building, the guild hall. Nothing could have prepared Lucy for what she was getting into.

"Hit the floor." Mira said in a casual tone. Everyone ducked down to the ground—with Erza quickly pulling Lucy down—just as a chair flew by them and shattered as it hit the wall. Lucy looked up to see what she could only describe as utter chaos. Chairs, stools, and other various pieces of furniture were tossed about everywhere, some of it badly broken. In the middle of the room, almost everyone in the guild had gathered for what appeared to be a massive brawl.

"All right!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly. "Nothing like a good old fight to welcome us back home. I'm all fired up!" He shouted gleefully as he slugged Gray in the face before jumping into the fray.

"Grrr!" Gray growled. "You goddamn flamebrain!" He shouted. "You're gonna pay for that!" He charged after Natsu.

"GRAY MY LOVE!" A woman's voice wailed. As Lucy looked around, she saw a beautiful woman with long blue hair and pale skin (that had a very very faint, almost bluish tint to it) run after Gray into the chaos. "JUVIA MISSED YOU!" She wept tears of joy as she pursued him. Temporarily forgetting about Natsu, Gray chose to ran away from the female.

"Ah…" A tall humanoid with combed, slicked back dark blue hair and a matching mustache smiled as he got out of the brawl. "Young love." He smiled and chuckled as he observed Gray and Juvia. "Go on Gray!" He shouted. "Give your girlfriend a kiss!"

"SHE'S NOT MY FREAKING GIRLFRIEND!"

Meanwhile, Juvia, the blue-haired girl, stopped and turned to Lucy. "You were with my beloved Gray when he walked in the door." She spoke quietly, in a dark tone of voice. Lucy didn't know why, but she suddenly felt very afraid of this woman. She began to sweat as she backed away from her.

"Are you Juvia's love rival?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom. "Stay away from Gray! He's Juvia's!" She snapped.

"I-It's not like that." Lucy held up her hands, chuckling nervously. "I don't like the guy, I don't even know him."

"Stay away from Gray Love Rival! He's Juvia's!" She warned again before resuming her chase.

Lucy looked around to see Mira get back to her feet and dust herself off. "What's going on?"

Unaware of Lucy's discomfort, Mira only smiled. "Oh, this is just a regular day at Fairy Tail."

Erza stepped in front of the girls, surveying the chaos of the guild. She gave a steely-eyed, unimpressed glare at the ruckus. She didn't even flinch when someone (it was unclear who in the chaos) threw a table across the guild hall. The redhead remained still as it flew right at her. Instead, she calmly and quickly reached for one of the empty handles on her hips and drew it. In one rapid, fluid motion, she activated the handle; with a mechanical humming noise, a beam of pure, hot energy that was colored crimson burst from the handle and shot out, forming the shape of a blade. Erza swung the blade in one quick, downward motion, splitting the incoming table in half, flying around either side of her.

Time came to a halt. Everyone stopped to look at Erza, still holding her energy sword. With a sigh, the redhead deactivated the weapon, which gave off a hiss as the blade slid back into its hilt. Erza then clipped it back onto her belt and addressed the rest of Fairy Tail.

"This is not the proper way for a guild to act!" She said calm yet sternly. Her voice held a cold, authoritative tone. "All this chaos, and anarchy, and violence. Is this really the message we wanna send the galaxy? That we're no better than a rogue guild?" She let out a frustrated groan. "I cannot believe that our guild is made up of immature CHILDREN!" She screamed at them, like an angry mother berating a child. "And we brought a new member today, only for you to embarrass the name of Fairy Tail!"

Erza's speech made everyone feel ashamed. "Now," she began, "clean up this mess!" She ordered. "Then we can give our new guild mate a true Fairy Tail welcome."

"Huzzah!" Everyone collectively cheered.

As Erza and the rest of Fairy Tail got to work cleaning up, Mira led Lucy over to the bar. The blonde sat down as Mira went behind it. Mira crouched down under the bard and pulled out a black, rectangular box with knobs and buttons on one side.

"Okay." The silver-haired woman smiled. "Where would you like your guild mark and in what color?" She asked.

Lucy thought for a moment before she set her right hand down on the table. "Could I have it on the back of my hand in pink please?"

Mira adjusted the knobs and pressed the buttons. She then held it over Lucy's hand. From the end of the device, a red laser appeared going across Lucy's hand. The laser slid up and down Lucy's hand, slowly leaving the imprint of a pink Fairy Tail mark on her hand.

"And there's a couple things you get with joining the guild." Mira explained, reaching under the bar. She first handed Lucy a rectanglur, flat, tablet-looking device. "You get a datapad for downloading job information, storing your identification, and personal use."

"Personal use?" Lucy asked.

Mira nodded. "My sister Lisanna keeps journal entries in hers for example."

Lucy nodded, better understanding now.

Mira next pulled out a small, silver, disc and gave it to her. "You also get a Lacrima-class holo-projector." She said. "You can use this to communicate with anyone in the guild and the guild hall itself."

"And one more thing." Mira pulled out a leather belt with a holster. Resting in the holder was a sleek, black, blaster.

"Uh…" Lucy paused, "no thank you."

"Lucy." All of Mira's perkiness disappeared and an aura of seriousness replaced it. "You heard the master. Guild life is serious. You're going to need to defend yourself." She pulled the blaster out of the holster. "Besides," she showed Lucy a switch on the side of the weapon, "we have a special contract with Heart Kreuz. All blasters manufactured for and ordered by Fairy Tail and its members come equipped with a stun setting; that way, you can incapacitate opponents without causing serious damage."

That made Lucy a little bit more comfortable, but she was still hesitant as she accepted the weapon.

"Now come on." Mira smiled again as she walked back around the bar to Lucy. "Let me show you around the guild hall."

* * *

Located in the lowers levels of the Dragonoid cruiser was the science wing. It was a massive laboratory filled with computer terminals and lab equipment. Most of the chemicals and equipment was secured in storage compartments throughout the wing.

A pair of lift doors opened, and the cloaked, helmeted figure of General Acnologia stepped into the lab. His head turned from side to side, looking for something.

"I know you're here." His distorted voice rattled out into the empty room. "You never leave this room. Now, come on out. I need to speak with you."

"Aw." A female voice cooed. It belonged to a woman. She was a beautiful, humanoid woman with fair skin, and neck-length black hair. Her large brown eyes were magnified by a pair of glasses. She was clad in long, form-fitting, white lab coat. The coat was open to reveal she was wearing a green halter top which exposed her midrift and a pink skirt underneath. Her ensemble was completed by black stiletto heels. Atop her head was a white boss of the plains style hat with the end of the crown pointed to resemble cat's ears. "Must you always be so straightforward?" The female asked. "That's no fun."

"I do not have time to waste on "fun."" He hissed the word out of his helmet. "You should not be wasting time on such trivial matters either." He chided the woman. "Such childish behavior is unbecoming of the head science officer of the Alvarez Empire, Dr. Daphne."

The scientist, Daphne, pouted at the general's harsh words. "You're always so cold to me Acnologia." She whined. "Why is that? Haven't I proven more than capable? Haven't I showed my loyalty to the Alvarez Empire? After all," she sat down on one of the counters, "if it wasn't for me, your big bad flagship, the Dragonoid, wouldn't even exist."

The general silently walked across the lab, walking up to her. A claw-like gauntlet slid out of his cloak, grasping her cheek. "Your service to the Emperor is commendable." He complimented her. "And the Dragonoid is without a doubt the finest ship in the Fiore Galaxy."

The feeling of the cold steel roughly caressing her cheek combined with his compliments made the young scientist blush. "That's all I needed." She grinned up at the cold, emotionless dragon helmet. "Now what do you need general?"

Acnologia retracted his claw black into his cloak. He pulled it out again, holding the strand of hair he had plucked off of Jude's head. "I acquired a sample of the princess' genetic material. I was hoping you could use it to locate the princess."

Reaching into her coat pocket, Daphne pulled out a pair of tweezers and pinched the strand of hair. "It shouldn't be too difficult." She said as she walked through the lab. She placed the strand in a transparent tube and set it down; the single strand of hair hung suspended in the center of the tube. "I just need to analyze the sample, and then I'll log the analysis into a database." Dr. Daphne explained. "Once that's done, I can download the database into my hunter seeker probes and deploy them to find and survey anyone matching that genetic signature." She paused, turning back to the general. "It should take no longer than two hours."

"Then you have two hours." Acnolgoia ordered.

"I'm sure you could spare a little more time than that _general_." She emphasized and purred his name as she walked up to the figure towering over her. Smirking up at him, she reached her hands into his cloak. "For me?" She bit her bottom lip, looking up at him.

His cold, metal claws wrapped around her wrists, pulling them out…but it wasn't a refusal. Acnologia pushed Daphne back, laying her down on one of the tables. The tall, built figure pinned her down beneath him.

"For you," his voice came out in a whisper, "I could spare some extra time."

* * *

"And that brings us to this." Mira concluded her tour of Fairy Tail headquarters with a large, long wall in the back of the hall. The entire was a large screen. Various pages and digital files were opened on the screen, plastered on top of each other. "This is the job board." Mira explained to Lucy. "When you want to take a job, you download it onto your datapad, bring it to me for approval, and once the job has been approved, I take it off the job board, and notify the poster that his request has been answered."

Lucy nodded silently taking in all the information. She had been at Fairy Tail for only a few hours and she had already learned so much. She had met everyone in the guild, making fast friends with a few people. While many of the guild members were human—such as Erza, Cana Alberona, Macao and Romeo Conbolt, Max Alors, Alzack Bisca and Asuka Connell, and Levy McGarden among others—Lucy was also surprised to meet so many different life forms; species she had never encountered before.

Gray Fullbuster, for example, was a half-human. The other half of his heritage was that of a Cryonian. Cryonians, Lucy learned, were a race of beings with thick strong skin, able to withstand freezing cold temperatures like the temperatures of Gray's home planet (as well as the home planet of the Cryonians), the ice and snow covered planet of Crylos.

The Strauss siblings—Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna—were all known as Halphans. Hailing from planet Halphas, Halphans were humanoid beings known for their distinct silvery-white hair and two horns which protruded out of their heads (which was hidden under their hair most of the time) and tails.

Mira's co-bartender Kinana was another unique creature. She was of a serpent-like race known as a Cubelian from planet Cubelios. The Cubelians gained their notorious reputation for bearing a striking resemblance to serpents as their bodies were triple-jointed, allowing them to bend and contort their entire bodies to impossible positions.

Lucy's self-proclaimed "love rival" Juvia Lockser was a Hydrolian from the planet Aquaphore. Aquaphore was a rather unique planet; the entire surface was covered in water, making it one big ocean. Aquaphore's two native species—the Hydrolians and the Aquaphorians—lived beneath the water, but were equally capable of living and breathing both underwater and on land.

That was only the beginning of the list. Lucy was sure it would take far too long to memorize every single new species and person she met. But, despite being overwhelmed with all this new information, Lucy was sure there was something she would never forget.

Natsu Dragneel. The boy who brought her to Fairy Tail. Lucy hadn't noticed it before, being swept up by all the action, but Lucy could see it now that everything had settled down. Natsu wasn't human, he was different. The way his nails extended into sharp points, like claws almost. The fact that his canines were longer than average. The face that the pupils of his eyes were vertical slits. And the very, very faint (almost not noticeable to the naked eye unless up close or touching him) scaly texture of his tanned skin.

Natsu wasn't the only one possessing these physical traits. Two other people Lucy met had them too—the silent Gajeel Redjox, and the innocent Wendy Marvell. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel all belonged to the same race.

They were Draconians from the planet Draconia.

* * *

 **Like I said, so much of this chapter was trying to come up with alien species for everyone. And look at that, it barely played a part in this. I'll try to make it more prominent in future chapters, but I make no promises.**

… **Also, I think I just made Acnologia x Daphne a thing. Hope so. I mean…he's a dragon, she's obsessed with dragons, they're both antagonists…don't question my logic, it just works. … By the way, have you noticed that in the "characters" list for the Fairy Tail section here on FanFiction doesn't have Daphne listed? Does anyone else find that odd? I mean, they have Max and Vjeeter…and they have barely done anything, but a major antagonist in a story arc (granted it was a filler arc) doesn't get listed?**

 **So what do you guys think? Remember, YOU HAVE TO REVIEW!**


	4. The Interrogation

**I am a REVIEW ADDCIT, so please keep the reviews coming; they make great motivation to update faster.**

 **Disclaimer: I just want to state that** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **and its characters are all property of Hiro Mashima. I don't own nor do I profit off of them. I do however own the plot…but I do not profit off of that.**

* * *

 _ **Among the Stars**_

 **The Interrogation**

One of the servants of the Heartfillia kingdom of Planet Konzern, a being named Capricorn was hanging in a dimly lit interrogation cell. His wrists were bound above his head and chained to the ceiling, and his hoofed feet dangled, barely scraping the ground.

Capricorn was from the planet Celestia. Celestians were humanoids known for bearing the appearance of animals. In Capricorn's case, he resembled an anthropomorphic goat. His usual proper suit was torn and cut in various places. His triangular shaped sunglasses were crooked on his face, which was bruised blue and purple.

Within the flickering light, Acnologia circled the servant. Her was barely visible in the dim light but the white circles that served as the optics for his helmet glowed brightly, giving the general the appearance of a predator.

"My patience is wearing thin…servant!" Acnologia's mechanical voice hissed menacingly at the Celestian. "Tell me where the princess is, and you will be free to go."

Beneath his shades, Capricorn only glared silently at the general. He refused to be intimidated or tortured into speaking.

"So be it." Acnologia sighed after seconds of silence. He stepped up to Capricorn, making himself more visible.

Suddenly, his gauntleted hands shot out of his cloak. One balled into a fist before burying itself deep into the servant's stomach. Capricorn's eyes widened as his hoisted body swung, unable to lurch and hunch forward.

"You could have avoided this." Acnologia said with an air of one having a casual conversation. His other hand came from below, arcing into an uppercut as it connected with his jaw.

"Now…talk!" Acnologia barked before his fist came flying again, connecting with Capricorn's face which lurched to the side.

As quick as it began, the onslaught stopped and Acnologia slid his hands back into his cloak. Capricorn's body slowly stopped swinging and spinning. He was panting, his head lowered.

"Your tolerance for pain is amazing." The general commented. "But there will only be two outcomes." He explained. "You will tell me where the princess is." He paused, letting the choice sink in. "Or I'll beat until you die."

Summoning what strength he still had, Capricorn gathered what moisture he could and spat out his dark, bluish green blood at Acnologia's feet.

"I'll…tell you…nothing!" Capricorn spoke proudly between gasps. "We all love princess Lucy and would do anything to protect her." He declared. "You'll never find out where's she's gone!"

"Won't I?" He asked. "You claim you'll tell me nothing, but you've told me more than you know."

The general watched the servant stiffen and his head shot up. He leaned into so that he was face to helmet with him. "You said "you all" care for the princess. That you'd do anything to protect her." He paused, letting Capricorn's slip sink in. "I now know she did not act alone. You and the other servants helped her."

The cloaked figure pulled away, sinking back into the shadows. "And now, I have no use for you anymore." He walked out of the cell. "I can find out what I want from the other servants."

Once he was alone, Capricorn dropped his head. Despite his best efforts, he slipped up. Lucy. The other servants who were his friends. He let them down.

And now he feared their blood was on his hands.

* * *

Dr. Daphne keyed the final commands into her console. Having finished analyzing the hair sample she was given, the Alvarez Empire's top scientist began downloading the information into her ten hunter seeker probe droids.

Her own invention, the probes were spherical in shape and a bright, glistening copper in color. They hovered five feet off the ground. Going around their sphere-shaped bodies there were four, black, round, telescopic lenses equal distance apart from each other; they served as the vision modules through which the probes saw. Located atop their bodies was a single, small turret. Below their bodies were dangling strands of metal that looked like garbage or loose wires at first glance, but they actually served as antennae.

"Your optics have been upgraded and outfitted with a genetics scanner." Daphne explained to her precious creations. "Your telescopic feature should give you a minimum scanning range of five hundred yards. That way, you can perform a scan without getting close enough to be detected." The bots hovered silently as Daphne downloaded the mission info into their processors. "Your mission is purely reconnaissance." She spoke as if she was conversing with them. "When you find the princess, do not engage her. Continue to survey and follow her, and transmit your coordinates back to the Dragonoid."

The download finished and Daphne keyed in a new set of commands before pulling a lever on the side of her console. From the ceiling, a set of ten transparent tubes slid down to the floor. Each one slid perfectly over one of her probes. With the final press of a button, the tubes let out a hiss as they jettisoned the bots up into the ceiling and out of the dragonoid.

The hunter seeker probes all veered off into different directions with a clear purpose… find the princess.

* * *

Lucy continued to spend the day getting adjusted to Fairy Tail's outlandish antics. She was currently sitting at a table, conversing with Levy, Wendy, and Lisanna. Everyone in Fairy Tail had been super friendly and accommodating to, and the blonde human had already made fast friends with some of the guilds' members. Particularly the guilds' archivist and bookkeeper, Levy McGarden. The two quickly bonded over a shared love of literature.

Although only a child, the Draconian Wendy Marvell was wise beyond her years. As Lucy got to know her, she learned the girl had an innate talent for medicine and was even training with Fairy Tail's resident doctor, the humanoid Edolan (from planet Edolas), Porlyusica.

Lucy didn't bond as well with Mira's younger sister, the Halphan Lisanna. Sure, she was friendly and sociable, but Lucy couldn't shake this feeling that Lisanna wasn't as inviting as the others. Lisanna wasn't cold. No. She just felt more…distant.

The girls' conversation was interrupted when the large, front, round doors slid open. Everyone turned their heads to see who was walking in. It was a humanoid with spiky orange hair, pointed elflike ears and blue shades over his eyes. He gave a cocky smirk as he walked into the guild.

"Miss me?" He asked with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"LOKE!" The guild cheered at their guildmates' arrival.

The man (or creature resembling a man) walked through the guild hall, shaking hands and greeting his friends.

"Hey Loke!" Someone called. "Have you met our new guild member? She's quite a looker. She might be your type."

He let out a mirthful chuckle. "The second you said it was a girl, I knew she was my type."

"She's over at that table, talking to Levy, Wendy and Lisanna."

Fairy Tail's resident playboy strolled over to said table with the intent to introduce himself (and come on to) the new girl. He suddenly stopped in his tracks however when he saw her. That long blonde hair, those chocolate brown eyes. There was no way. It was impossible.

"L-Lucy?"

Hearing her name, Lucy turned towards Loke. From her earlier vantage point, she hadn't noticed before. But now, up close, there was no mistaking it.

"L-Leo?"

* * *

Two people sat in the dimly lit interrogation cell. A male and a female humanoid. The male was a muscular, tan-skinned creature. Half his hair was colored a bright neon red and the other half was a stark white. His top was bare to expose his tanned muscles, save for a red collar around his neck and two bracers up his arms. Around his waist was a belt which tied a large red wrap-around around his lower section. Beneath it, he wore brown leggings and black boots. Behind the male was a large, segmented tail which was shackled to the wall behind him. His wrists were shackled to the table in the middle of the room.

The woman sat across from him, also shackled to the table. She had beautiful, pale skin which was on display thanks to her rather revealing attire which consisted of a dark blue bra (well…more of a swimsuit top than a bra) and a matching mermaid style dark blue skirt the female also had cerulean eyes and long teal hair.

The door creaked open and Acnologia entered the cell. The emotionless, glowing eyes of helmet peered mercilessly at the two prisoners.

"I'm beginning to grow tiresome of these interrogations." Acnologia's mechanically distorted voice wheezed from his helmet. "So, let us cut to the chase." He walked up to the table. "Sever servants assisted the princess in escaping." He recapped. "Someone knows something. And I am not going to rest until I know what they know."

The man turned towards the imposing figure. Glaring at the general, his only response was to spit at him.

Acnologia sighed. From out of the folds of his cloak, his hands came out. The gauntlets he was wearing this time were different from his usual ones. Along the arms were several glowing blue lines. Light pulsated from the gauntlets to the hands. In the palm of each gauntlet was a bright, glowing blue orbs embedded in the gauntlets. As Acnologia thrust his hands forward, bolts of bright blue lightning shot out of the orbs in his palms and zapped into the two servants. Both tried to resist, but the pain proved too great and they let out horrific screams as their bodies twitched.

The flow of attack energy was cut off as the general lowered his hand. He looked between the two servants again. He turned to the male. "Scorpio." He announced the male's name. "From the planet Celestia, you're the captain of the guards for the king." His attention then turned to the female sitting across him. "And you're beloved wife Aquarius." He walked across the table, towering over the woman. "An Aquaphorian, one of the two native species to planet Aquaphore." He spoke the information he had received. "She is also the gardener for the palace."

"Now," Acnologia continued as the two panted, the pain from the lightning attack still working its way out of their systems, "according to my information, you two were originally servants of the late queen before she married. And, after she passed on, it was reported to me that you two were closer to her daughter than the king."

"I'm certain that someone in this room helped her escape." The tone of his voice was threatening. "And I'm certain that it wasn't me." He looked at them both again. "So, who wants to talk?"

The male, Scorpio spoke up, defiance burning brightly in his eyes. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked with a sound that sounded like a cross between a scoff and a chuckle. "I can't understand a thing you're saying."

Acnologia remained silent before thrusting his hand and pointing it at Scropio. The servant flinched, waiting for an onslaught of bolts that never came. Instead, the general turned his hand, pointing it at Aquarius. The bolts shot out of the device in his palm, ripping into Scorpo's wife. The tiny cell was filled with her screams of agony. Scorpio gasped, watching helplessly as his wife was tortured.

Acnologia finally relented and the lightning ceased. Aquarius collapsed forward, laying on the table. Smoke rose from her body as she panted heavily.

"It must be painful." Acnologia spoke rhetorically. "Watching the one you care so deeply for suffer." His gaze shifted to the woman this time, although he was still addressing Scorpio. "Every time you don't speak, I will attack the one you love." He threatened. "You'll be forced to sit and watch, helpless, knowing it's your own fault she's suffering."

Weakly, Aquarius raised her head. Her dark blue eyes held the same spark of defiance her husband's held. "Fuck you!" She spat. "I'm telling you nothing."

"That's the same thing the goat said." Acnologia retorted. Their eyes widened when they remembered Capricorn; the bloody state he was in after the general had finished with him. "And just like him, your defiance speaks volumes."

He stuck out his hand again, this time pointing it at Scorpio. "And you shall share the same fate as your husband." He added coldly before attacking Scorpio with another vicious bout of lightning. Scorpio clenched his fists and ground his teeth, trying to hold out. But the pain proved too great and he started screaming out. Aquarius turned her head away, but she was unable to block out her husband's nightmarish screams due to her restrained hands.

"Now," Acnologia ceased the attack, "where is the princess?"

"How about you go launch yourself into the nearest sun?" Scorpio remarked, prompting another attack on Aquarius. The attack was quicker this time, only to illustrate his point.

"Where is the princess!?" The general repeated.

Glaring silently, Aquarius spat at him this time. Acnologia turned toward her, helmet gazing at her coldly as he viciously shocked and electrocuted Scorpio.

He stopped, looking at the two, panting, smoking beings below him. "You know," he told them, "I can do this all day. Unfortunately, you two cannot. If you tell me where the princess is, you shall be released and the other servants will be spared."

Exhausted and in pain, Aquarius looked up at the tall, shadowy figure. "I was the servant of queen Layla Heartfillia." She breathed out. "In her death, I swore my loyalty to the princess of Konzern." She spat at him again.

After the intense silence that followed, Acnologia nodded. "I see. I respect your loyalty to your master." As he kept his gaze on her, he aimed his hand at Scorpio. "I just hope you can sleep soundly, knowing such devotion has cost your husband his life."

And the onslaught started again; blue bolts of lightning burst from his palm, slamming into Scorpio's body. The room was filled with his horrific screams as wave after wave of intense, electrical pain wracked his body. Aquarius watched, wide-eyed as her husband took the assault. Every one of Scorpio's screams viciously clawed at her heart. Tears began to stream from her eyes as she was forced into an impossible conflict.

"STOP!" She finally screamed. "PLEASE STOP!" She shut her eyes, trying to stop the waterfalls from her eyes. "I'LL TELL YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM!"

Acnologia finally stopped the torture. Scorpio's smoking, unconscious body collapsed forward, slamming onto the table.

Acnologia crossed over to Aquarius, placing his clawed gauntlet around her chin and forcing her to look up at her.

"Where is the princess?" His mechanical voice whispered threateningly.

"I got her passage off planet." She spoke quickly. "The ship we smuggled her onto was headed for Hargeon. I believe they were dropping off a delivery at the Hargeon Ring." She shook under his gaze. "I don't know any more than that. I don't know if she's still there or if she's gone somewhere else."

The general silently lowered her head, turned and left the room. He had what he needed, he was done.

Aquarius looked back at her broken, crumpled husband and a new wave of tears came on. She lowered her head, her hair covering her face as her body was wracked with sobs.

"I'm so sorry princess." She whispered to herself, defeated.

* * *

 **You know, I originally wanted that original torture scene at the end to be a little bit longer. But I asked myself, "how long could this back and fourth go on before it got boring and repetitive?"**

 **I had also planned for additional scenes after the ending. One was going to be of Lucy and Loke catching up. And the other was going to see Acnologia contact his master again (if you're familiar with the Alvarez Empire arc in Fairy Tail, you know who the emperor is) and leave Konzern. However, this chapter was starting to drag, and I figured I'd spent enough time on it. However, those two scenes will show up in the next chapter.**

 **Also, on a side note, does anyone else feel like the Alvarez Empire arc is fixing to be the final arc in Fairy Tail?**

 **That being said, leave a review, I love your feedback. And stay tuned for the next chapter,** _ **"Gildarts"**_

 **So what do you guys think? Remember, YOU HAVE TO REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys. Sorry, this isn't a real chapter. I just want to update you all on what's going on. I'm in the process of getting a new laptop right now. Actually, I already got it. However, this laptop doesn't have MS Word (which is what I use to write). As soon as possible, I'm gonna get it. But first I have bills and such. That being said, I do still have my old computer. I'm furiously working on the latest chapter of _Among the Stars_ (titled "Gildarts"). Once it's published, I'll post the chapter. Then, after that, we'll have to wait until I get a word processor on my new computer.

Also, I wanted to give you guys a little sneak peak at my latest story. At this point, it would be more of a hobby than an actual story. I wouldn't really dedicate any real time until I finished _Among the Stars_.

 **Title:** _August in Magnolia County_

 **Rating:** T or M (I know most people do swearing as just a T rating, but there is excessive swearing and even some implied drug use)

 **Genres:** Drama/ Humor

 **Characters:** Lucy H., Layla H., Loke, Jude H.

 **Summary:** It's an adaptation fic. I know those have a niche market but I really want to do one badly. Adapted from Tracy Letts' Tony-award winning play and Oscar-nominated film starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, _August: Osage County_ , _August in Magnolia County_ tells on one sweltering August summer in the little county of Magnolia. When tragedy strikes, the Heartfilia family gathers together in this time of crisis. However, this reunion is anything but a happy one. Once this dysfunctional family gets together, old demons are painfully brought back into the light. This is dramedy or a black comedy; which means while it is majorly dramatic, there are moments of humor.

 **Warning:** As I said earlier, excessive, foul language and implies drug use. There is also changed relationships (I'll get to that in a minute) and major (and I emphasize _**MAJOR**_ ) OOC.

 **Cast:** For those of you who are familiar with _August: Osage County_ (and even for those of you who aren't), here's the who's who. Those changed relationships I mentioned earlier will be mentioned here.

 **Jude Heartfilia as Beverly Weston:** Age 69. The head of the Heartfilia family. He's a washed-up poet and an alcoholic.

 **Layla Heartfilia as Violet Weston:** Age 65. She's the matriarch of the Heartfilia family. Currently undergoing treatment for mouth cancer, Layla is addicted to many MANY different forms of prescription drugs, mostly depressants and narcotics. Even in her drug-induced state, Layla is shrewd and sharp-tongued.

 **Lucy Heartfilia as Barbara Fordham:** Age 46, Lucy is the oldest daughter of the Heartfilia family. She is a college professor. She has the intense need to control everything around her as it falls apart.

 **Mavis Vermillion as Ivy Weston:** Age 44, she's the middle daughter of the Heartfilia family. She's the only one of her sisters who stayed behind in Magnolia to care for her parents and she works as a librarian for the local college. Beneath her calm exterior, is a passionate woman who is slowly growing cynical.

 **Hisui E. Fiore as Karen Weston:** Hisui is the youngest daughter of the Heartfilia family at age 40. She is newly engaged to be married and can speak of little other than her own happiness.

 **Loke/Leo as Bill Fordham:** Age 49. Loke is Lucy's husband. Like her, Loke is a college professor. Due to an affair Loke had with one of his students, Lucy and Loke are currently separated, but trying to work on their marriage. He decides to come with his wife to her childhood home to be there for her.

 **Wendy Marvell as Jean Fordham:** Lucy and Loke's 14 year old daughter. She is smart-tongued and bitter about her parents' separation.

 **Mest Gryder as Steve Heidebrecht:** Age 50. Mest is Hisui's fiancé and a businessman. However, he may not be the "perfect man" that Hisui considers him to be.

 **Grandine as Matty Fae Aiken:** Age 57. Grandine is Layla's younger sister. She proves to be just as sharp-tongued as her sister.

 **Igneel as Charlie Aiken:** Age 60. Igneel is Grandine's husband. Unlike the Heartfilia family, Igneel is a rather kind man who is a lifelong friend of Jude.

 **Zeref Dragneel as "Little" Charles Aiken:** Zeref is the 37 year old son of Igneel and Grandine. He's a kind-hearted man, but he's unemployed and clumsy. He is constantly a victim of his mother's sharp-tongue and verbal lashings.

 **Virgo as Johnna Monevata:** Age 26. Virgo is hired by Jude to serve as a live-in housekeeper and caretaker for his wife. Layla is prejudiced against her, but she wins the rest of the family over with her hard work, cooking skills, and empathy. She is a silent witness to much of the mayhem the family causes amongst itself.

 **Rogue Cheney as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau:** Age 47. The sheriff of Magnolia county. He was formerly a classmate of Lucy's.

Like I said, this one won't have much of my attention until I finish _Among the Stars_ , I just wanted to update my readers on what was going on.


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